


The Goodbye.

by heyyallcam



Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Carmen and Gray Angst, Gen, Girl I spent like three days straight on this xhxjx, Hurt/Comfort, Most prominent characters are Carmen Cracker and Player, This is not romantic RedCrackle, hurt/comfort is only rlly at the end sooo, please don’t interpret this as romantic RedCrackle didndkc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:02:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29935200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyyallcam/pseuds/heyyallcam
Summary: Crackle Rod.
Relationships: Gray | Crackle & Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep, Player & Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	The Goodbye.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, I wrote this fic mainly to be able to incorporate some of my theories/analyses.  
> Have fun, I tried to put in some Color theory too!  
> (Italics are Carmen’s thoughts)

Carmen, Ivy and Zack were in their van. Driving to the destination Shadowsan gave them. The landscape before them, green grass, light blue sky with tints of green. The red of Carmen, Zack and Ivy stood out from the scene.  
Zack was in the driver’s seat, driving. Carmen was in the passenger’s seat and Ivy was in the backseat. Carmen talked to Shadowsan on her phone, “If Bellum’s lab in the Himalayas is functioning as her robot’s base camp, I suspect that’s where we’ll find Gray.” 

“We now have coordinates, thanks to the satellite images Player gathered. I have made special arrangements to facilitate your arrival.”   
Zack, driving the van, pulled up in front of skydiving plane, tinted with green and blue from the lighting and sky around it, “Woah. Sweet!”

“A high altitude jump will be the most efficient way of getting you onto the premises undetected.” Shadowsan continued. “Since Dr. Bellum’s laboratory is bound to possess state of the art security.” 

Carmen looked back at her phone, “I’ll be at a disadvantage without Player, but, he’ll be in the middle of a history exam when I’m ready to touch down.”

“Yeah. Like he would like any excuse to get out of that.” Zack joked.

Carmen turned to face Zack, “Player’s already been sent to detention on my account. And it’s only his first week of school. I can’t ask him to skip class.”

Ivy leaned forward from the backseat, between Carmen and Zack, “What if there were no class to skip?”

Carmen looked back at Ivy, an eyebrow raised, “What do you mean?”

“Maybe, we can try to cancel his class with something...” Ivy continued.

Zack raised his eyebrow, “Like a fire?”

“C’mon, we can’t just light a whole school on fire.” Carmen scoffed.

“Okay. What about...” Ivy looked around, “A bug infestation!”

Carmen chuckled, “A bug infestation?”

“Yeah! We can get dressed up in those bug inspector outfits and pretend there’s a bug infestation.” Ivy leaned on Carmen’s car seat, “You up for it, Zack?”

“Yeah, of course!” Zack perked up.

“I don’t think you should really be doing this. You know I always say education first.” Carmen opened the door, and stood outside of it, “But if it’s necessary, I guess I can’t stop you.” She held her bag and started to walk towards the plane. 

“Bye, Carm! Good luck on your mission!” Ivy called out. 

Carmen smiled back at Zack and Ivy and then boarded the plane.  
———

“I’ll be at the drop zone in 30 minutes.” Carmen sat on a seat in her skydiving suit. She was going to drop from the plane soon, it was a bit nerve wracking, but she had a mission. _They’ll get to Gray, and take him back. I can’t let V.I.L.E. hurt any more people._

Shadowsan spoke from Carmen’s computer, “Then you might find an overview of the environment to be beneficial. The Himalayan mountains stretch approximately 1,500 miles, passing through the nations of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China, Nepal, and Bhutan. They are home to nine of the ten highest mountain peaks in the world, including the tallest. Mount Everest. Which rises over 29,00 feet above sea level. The word “Himalayas” comes from the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit, and means “abode of snow”. Even though climates are actually tropical at the base of the mountains. Which unfortunately is not where Dr. Bellum chose to keep a laboratory. The terrain where you are headed is certain to be treacherous.”

“I need to rescue Gray before V.I.L.E. can harm him, or poison his mind with lies.” 

“Or worse yet, tell him the truth.” 

Carmen closed her laptop and sighed. Hopefully, the mission will go well. Gray would come with Carmen, he seemed to have wanted out of that jail cell. _He will come along. Let’s just hope I can land the jump there._  
———  
Carmen stood next to the hatch. She pulled down the lever, and the hatch opened. She put on her helmet. _Here goes nothing._

Shadowsan instructed her from her earpiece, “It is crucial that you time your landing with pinpoint accuracy. Deploy your parachute too early, and the ensuing drift could cause you to miss the target entirely.”

“I’d have a long climb back to the top.” Carmen looked over the mountains. It hadn’t been the first time she’d ever skydived. Once, as Black Sheep, now as Carmen. She felt a bit nervous, but at least now she has a parachute and doesn’t have to cling onto someone to survive. _Last time I did something like this, Gray... He almost killed that man. In front of me. But it’s different now, he’s one of the good guys now. No longer a part of V.I.L.E. I’ve gotta help him, before it’s too late._

Shadowsan continued on guiding her, “But open it too late...”

“I’ll have you beat in the broken bones department.” Carmen closed her eyes for second, took a deep breath, then ran off of the airplane.   
She dived, arms tucked to her side. Then she spread out her arms and legs.   
Some clouds and winds, fast, harsh, were in her path, she bumped into them.   
“Great.” Carmen grew even more nervous. “Shadowsan. I bumped into some weather. Visual’s compromised.” Weird sounds came from her earpiece, telling her that she lost her connection to Shadowsan. “Shadowsan? Oh great.”

“Red, what’s up?” Player popped into her view, on her helmet.

“Player!” She sighed quickly with relief, “I’m up. Though not for long without your help.” She narrowed her eyebrows, focused, “Can you track my position?”

“You’re miles high, and falling fast, and about to rendezvous with the source of a radio signal.” 

“Must be Bellum’s lab. I’ll need to deploy the moment we align, care to navigate?”

“I’m guessing you have ten seconds. Start banking right.” Carmen banked right. 

“Five seconds,” Player warned, “Three, two, one.” He count down, “Deploy now!” 

Carmen pulled the string on her parachute and deployed. The parachute immediately spread out and caught in the fast wind of the mountains. She accidentally flew past her landing point. She shot out her grappling hook and hooked it to the landing point. The wind blew harshly and strongly in her face and in her parachute. She took off her parachute, and flew over to the landing point.   
She kneeled down, “Player, you’re the perfect traveling companion.” 

“You’re just saying that because you never have to buy me a seat.”

Carmen sat on the landing point. She unzipped her diving suit and took it off. Then, she took off her helmet. Her straightened hair flew freely in the cold wind. Air cloud and fresh, sky dark and deep blue, tints of red. She slid down the slope she was positioned at.  
She sprinted towards Bellum’s lab. She hopped over the stairs and pressed her back against a wall of the lab, making sure no one saw her. Green light from Bellum’s laboratory shone in the night sky. Dark blues and even darker purples darkened the sky.   
She kneeled down, picking the lock of the entrance. It opened. She studied the hallway for a second before going in. Green lights, green walls, green floors, trademarks of any V.I.L.E. hideout.  
_Alright, quiet now._  
She sneaked through the halls and spotted one of Bellum’s robots. She jumped up to the ceiling, making sure the robot didn’t see her. It looked like she tracked in some water from her shoes. She looked down at the robot, quiet as she could be.   
A water droplet dripped towards the robot near her foot, but luckily the robot didn’t notice. Instead, he turned away at the sound of Dr. Bellum’s voice, “Oh, Roby! Your Queenie wants more cocoa!”   
Roby walked off, away from Carmen.   
Carmen jumped down from her place on the ceiling and sighed in relief, “Whew!” She leaned back a bit. 

Player spoke once again from her earpiece, “You all right there, Red?” 

“Robot crossing. Which means Gray’s definitely in here somewhere.” She leaned a bit forward. _I’ll be able to rescue him soon._ “See any likely holding cells?” 

“You’re near the entrance to some sort of subterranean bunker. Could be storage, or a prison.” 

She walked and arched her pose as she sneaked through the halls, carefully quiet.  
She eventually came across a door to a room. She opened the door and upon sight of the room, her eyes widened, “No.” 

“What is it?” Player asked.

“Bellum’s building an army of robot thieves.” Carmen looked over the army of robots, and took a step into the room, “There must be dozens of here. Hundreds maybe, all awaiting activation.”   
Carmen took more apprehensive steps into the room. 

“We need to stop her from getting them online.” Player told her. 

She looked around the room once again, “I think I see a way to make that happen.”   
She took off her backpack and walked towards the wall. She grabbed a bomb from her pack, and placed it. The red of the tool stood out from the green in the room. _This’ll do. Now, time to go find Gray._  
———  
Walking down the halls, she came across a corner. Tentatively, she peeked out from it and saw some guards.  
She ran up to one, and tried to roundhouse kick them. They grabbed her foot before she could deliver the impact. The guard flung her across the room, but she landed okay. Her hair flopped over her face as her heart rate quickened. _Come on, come on..._  
She heard another guard from behind her, charging a up a crackle rod.  
_How come I always have the worst kind of luck with those?_  
She turned and saw the guard charging toward her. The first guard from a few moments before also charged after her. She instinctively placed her foot on the guard’s chest, who was holding the crackle rod, and bent them over her, forcing them to electrocute the other guard. The first guard immediately was knocked out. Carmen kicked off the second guard and stood up. She opened a door to a room, looking for Gray. 

The room she opened showed Gray sitting on a chair, in front of a large window. _Ah, there he is. Finally. Time to go._  
“Gray? We have to move,” Carmen walked in towards him. 

“The name is...” Gray still sat in his chair, and he smiled.

“Gray-ham. I know, I know.” Carmen walked toward the chair he was sitting on, ready to bust him out of here. _C’mon Gray, we’ve gotta get you out of here._

“No,” Gray frowned. Carmen was shocked for second, but then she lifted her eyebrow. _Finally letting me call you Gray, huh?_

He charged up the crackle rod in his hand and slowly stood. He held the crackle rod close to him, frowning. The green of the powered up crackle rod cast light onto Gray. Some of the green light fell on Carmen as well, but not as much as on Gray.  
He looked over at Carmen over his shoulder, “It’s Crackle.”

Carmen stood still, in shock. A look of fear on her face.

 _No, no, no, no. This can’t be happening. Not again. No... You’re one of the good guys now. I’m not letting you leave on my watch. V.I.L.E. is dangerous. They’ll harm him. I can’t just let him leave to V.I.L.E.... I can’t let V.I.L.E. harm another person, especially when I have the power to save them._  
It was like being Black Sheep all over again. The crackle rod in his hands, the name, the fear on her face, the good guy she thought he was. The old friend who she thought she could trust. _Maybe Player was right. He’s a live wire, isn’t he? It’s happening again. Why does it always turn out this way. It didn’t have to be like this. I could’ve saved him. We could’ve left. I could’ve officially made him one of my best friends._  
_One of team red._  
_One of the people I care most about..._

But that’s not how it was going to be. Especially with that crackle rod in his hands, the sinister green look in his eye, all of his memories back.   
“I assume you prefer I continue to call you ‘Carmen’?” Crackle pointed the crackle rod at her, smirking.

Carmen’s face had the same look on her face as the one she had when Crackle first hurt her. Her heartbeat quickened. It didn’t feel right to feel this way, so scared. It was like that night in Morocco all over again. Except in this case Carmen was on the bad end of the crackle rod, but the same person on the other end. The same person who was her friend for a year. They had fun together, but it was short-lived. It all was fun and games...  
Until that night in Morocco.   
_No, no, it’s not right. You’re not that guy. You’re not him anymore. You’re different. You’re...Gray. Can’t I trust you?_  
“Gray, no matter what they told you, you’re not that guy anymore.” _Come with me. Leave with me. Don’t do this to me again. You’ve changed, didn’t you?_  
Crackle smiled, then frowned at her. Green light from the crackle rod now became blinding. It lightened his face.It was the only light source in the room. “But I am that guy. I’ve always been that guy.” 

“No. Sydney, the cafe,” _The time you changed? When everything felt right again? When I thought I had my brother back?_  
_You were the big brother I never had until that night in Morocco, until that moment. But the moment’s repeating itself._  
Carmen softened her eyes, and placed a hand on her chest in an attempt to convince the man who pointing a crackle rod right at her, “We’re the good guys, remember?” _You were so persistent on it too. I told you I did good._  
_So why can’t you? Why can’t you do good like you wanted?_

He scoffed, and smiled, “When you finally had that cuppa with me.”  
It’s weird, it felt like he did want to go with her, to be connected as friends again. What didn’t add up was him pointing that deadly weapon at her, with no sign of remorse. _Does he really want to be with me? Has he ever wanted to be friends with me? Even when I was Black Sheep?_

He frowned, “Being good only mattered to me because Bellum rewired my thinking, programmed me-” He pointed as his head, “-To be some kind of innocent fool.”

The look of fear was on Carmen’s face again. _Not again._ _You can change, you HAVE changed._  
“It’s never too late to change.”

“I’ve had time to reflect, piece together the fragments,” He stepped closer to Carmen, now pointing the crackle rod in his hand right in her face. 

Her fear crept all the way from head to toe. She couldn’t move, how could she? All she felt like she could do was stand there. She felt like Black Sheep, a child in a criminal empire. A girl, who was traumatized by one of her best friends at the time. 

“And there’s only one thing I’ve ever regretted doing for V.I.L.E.,” He lowered the crackle rod and turned it off. He closed his eyes. Carmen glanced down to the rod, worried. She looked back up at the other’s face, a bit confused. Crackle opened his eyes, and frowned, “Trying to hurt you.”   
Carmen forced a smile, she tilted the ends of her lips slightly upwards.   
_Trying? Trying to hurt me? You’re still doing harm to me this very moment. Weren’t you just pointing a dangerous weapon right at my face like two seconds ago?_  
She still felt nervous, anxious, afraid of what he would say.   
“I know you won’t come back to V.I.L.E. We’ve had that chat, on the way to Paris.” Crackle continued. Carmen apprehensively leaned back on the counter behind her, breathing a bit more calmly. She tried to relax, but she still kept her guard up.  
Crackle looked back up at Carmen, “But I’m begging you, give up trying to stop us.”  
Carmen noticed a type of green tint in his eye. A familiar one.  
_Give up trying to stop you? That’s what I dedicated my life to I-_

_I can’t keep doing so much for you, when you don’t do anything for me._

Crackle looked into Carmen’s eyes, determined, “Because I don’t ever want to be put in a position to hurt you again.”   
_You’re hurting me right now. Nobody put you in the position to hurt me right now. Except yourself._  
Carmen forced another smile at Crackle. She closed her eyes as she let out a silent sigh. She winced, knowing what she had to do.   
She opened her eyes again, her mind decided.

“Then, apologies.” She frowned, eyes on the floor, “Because I won’t stop trying to take down V.I.L.E., not ever,”  
She gripped the counter, with powerful anger. Anger that this all happened again.   
“-And definitely not now.”   
She flicked open a container with a button inside.   
Crackle gave her a shocked look.  
She let her finger fall onto the button, as if her body wanted this more than anything. 

The following sounds that came were massive explosions. Blinding and bold red and yellow. From the room where Carmen had placed her bomb.  
The impact affected Crackle’s room. The window, and much of the furniture in the room was destroyed. Morning sun rose in the distance. Painting the sky lighter, with blue and light purple. Alarms went off from the explosion. Crackle was left sitting on floor. He had fallen from the impact.   
Carmen perched on a shard of glass from the now broken window, ready to jump, her hair flying in the wind. Refreshing cold air hit her face as she sat on the shard of glass.

She looked back at Crackle.   
  
“Goodbye, Gray.” She said, in a relieved tone, one that she would’ve used when coming back home from a caper. Crackle looked at her, shocked.  
She turned and jumped off the window. She pulled out her skis and started skiing her way out on her exit.   
Hair blowing in her hair, she skied, determined.   
She made her way over to where Bellum, Maelstrom and Roby were. She swooped on in on her skis and took the crown perched on Bellum’s head.   
“Cleo’s crown!” Bellum was enraged that Carmen took the crown meant for Cleo, “AAAAH, GET HER!!”  
Carmen skied away, bending and arching her back to go as fast as she could, steering to avoid debris in the snow.   
Bellum appeared next to her, “GIVE ME THAT CROWN!” Bellum attempted to grab the crown from Carmen, but Carmen swooped up some snow in Bellum’s face. Bellum fell and laid in the snow.  
Roby went on to chase Carmen. Carmen slid underneath some logs, Roby bumped into them, slowing himself down. He broke the logs then continued to chase towards Carmen.   
Sun glared in Carmen’s eyes as rose up past the horizon of the Himalayan Mountains. The sky was now in the process of sunrise, showcasing bold colors of red and yellow. The snow seemed to glow more yellow, instead of blinding, almost-green-white now.  
As Carmen was skiing away from Roby, there was a cliff dead ahead. She braked and stopped before she could fall off. Roby, however, did not. Roby didn’t stop and skied off the cliff. He then turned and extended his robotic hand to latch onto Carmen’s foot, dragging her towards the edge of the cliff.   
Carmen grunted, hanging onto the edge, trying not to fall off. Sweat beaded down her forehead as she struggled.   
_C’mon, c’mon... You got this, just hold on a bit longer._  
Roby climbed upwards and used his robotic arm, that was latched on Carmen’s foot, as a rope to climb.   
Roby fell down a bit when climbing, causing Carmen to only be able to hold the ledge of the cliff with one hand. She took out her glass cutter and put it to Roby’s robotic arm, to disconnect them. Yellow sparks came from the electricity in her glass cutter.   
Carmen lost her grip onto the ledge and fell, she then grabbed onto Roby. They both fell off the cliff, into a white fog.   
Carmen drew her glider out and was able to fly away. Roby, fell to his robotic death and was destroyed in a green explosion. Smoke rose from the explosion.  
Carmen glided away from the destruction. She glanced back, and saw the smoke rise from Bellum’s laboratory and Roby’s destruction on the mountain.  
She kept sorrow on her face, a bit regretful, but it felt like she did the right thing.  
Maybe it was the right thing to leave him. To finally say goodbye.   
Gray, Graham, they were gone.   
Crackle is all that remained.   
Maybe he never changed.   
Maybe he was always like this and now Carmen finally saw it.   
Maybe she shouldn’t have trusted him too easily.   
———  
Carmen sat on a bench, in front of Player’s school in Canada. She saw Player miss his bus, “Hey, wait!”

Player then turned to face Carmen. This was the first time they’d ever see each other in person.   
Carmen smiled genuinely at him.  
———  
In a burger joint, Player and Carmen at across from each other, talking. Burgers on the table, drinks in red cups. Blue sky outside, blue window, blue lights, blue seats.  
“So, how is school going?” 

Player sipped his drink, “Actually, today was my last day.” 

Carmen raised her eyebrows in shock, “No, you weren’t expel-“

“No.” Player interrupted, “My parents totally freaked when they heard about my school’s bug problem. They decided homeschooling was safer.”

“Go figure.” Carmen smiled, then looked back up at Player, “What is it?”

“You just...look taller than I thought you would in person.” 

Carmen relaxed her shoulders and sighed. She fumbled nervously with the white straw from her red cup. 

“You didn’t come here just to celebrate retrieving a stolen crown and destroying a robot army, did you?” Player asked, looking at Carmen’s straw.

Carmen smiled back fondly at Player and crossed her arms, “Just felt the need to reconnect with my other oldest friend from my school days.” _One that would never leave me._

“Don’t worry Red. I’m not going anywhere.” 

“I know.” She smiled back at him.  
Player never went anywhere, he was constantly by Carmen’s side.   
And she, of course, was always grateful for that fulfilling, healthy relationship. 


End file.
